Joan Clarkson

Joan Clarkson
A young white woman with light hair, wearing a dark, one-shouldered dress
Joan Clarkson, from a 1919 publication
Born(1904-03-14)14 March 1904
London, England, United Kingdom
Died19 June 1982(1982-06-19) (aged 78)
London, England, United Kingdom
OccupationActress
Notable workThe Mystery of Fu Manchu (1923)

Joan Rosaline Clarkson (14 March 1904 – 19 June 1982) was an English actress who was most active in the 1920s and 1930s.

Early life

Clarkson was born in Tottenham, London, the daughter of Frederick William Clarkson and Ellen Theresa Clarkson.

Career

Clarkson was an actress associated with English theatre producer Charles B. Cochran, who called her his "English rose".[1] She was known for her long blonde hair, and her contract with Cochran required her to surrender half her salary if she cut her hair in a bob.[2][3] Her stage credits included roles in Cyrano de Bergerac (1919), The Little Whopper (1920),[4][5] An Old-Fashioned Girl (1922)[6] Fun of the Fayre (1922),[7] The Happy Ending (1922),[4][8] John Galsworthy's Havoc (1924),[9] Cochran's 1930 Revue (1930),[10] Noel Coward's revue sketches A Tube Station, Ignorance is Bliss,The English Lido, and Rules of Three (all 1928),[11] and Sunshine Sisters (1933).[12]

On film, Clarkson was best known for her appearances as Karamaneh in The Mystery of Dr. Fu Manchu, a 1923 series of more than a dozen short silent films, based on the 1913 novel and starring Harry Agar Lyons.[13] Dorinea Shirley also played the Karamaneh in some later installments.[14] Philip de László painted a portrait of her in a white dress in 1935.[15]

Personal life

Clarkson married producer William Mollison in 1928;[16][17] she left him in 1935,[18] and they divorced in 1939.[19] She died in 1982, aged 78 years, in London.

References

  1. ^ "Loaned to America". Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. 1928-08-13. p. 3. Retrieved 2022-08-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "No-Bobbing Contract". Liverpool Echo. 1927-09-01. p. 6. Retrieved 2022-08-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "British Actress Paid to Keep Tresses Long". The Pasadena Post. 1927-09-21. p. 9. Retrieved 2022-08-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b Wearing, J. P. (2014-03-27). The London Stage 1920-1929: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 22, 197. ISBN 978-0-8108-9302-3.
  5. ^ "In One of her 'Janet Gregor' Dresses". The Sketch. 110: 118. May 26, 1920.
  6. ^ "An Old-Fashioned Girl". The Play Pictorial. 40: 8. 1922.
  7. ^ Cochran, Charles Blake (1926). The Secrets of a Showman. H. Holt. pp. 375–376.
  8. ^ "'The Happy Ending' at the St. James's Theatre". The Sphere. 91: 289. December 16, 1922.
  9. ^ "Joan Clarkson". Mid-Week Pictorial. 19 (20): 11. 1924-07-10 – via Internet Archive.
  10. ^ Breese, Charlotte (2012-01-16). Hutch: The true story of our biggest cabaret star, and the inspiration for Downton Abbey's Jack Ross. A&C Black. ISBN 978-1-4088-3113-7.
  11. ^ Coward, Noël (2014-06-13). Coward Revue Sketches. A&C Black. pp. 58, 68, 83, 102. ISBN 978-1-4725-0336-7.
  12. ^ Wearing, J. P. (2014-05-15). The London Stage 1930-1939: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 319. ISBN 978-0-8108-9304-7.
  13. ^ Gifford, Denis (2018-10-24). The British Film Catalogue: The Fiction Film. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-83701-5.
  14. ^ Soister, John T. (2010-06-28). Up from the Vault: Rare Thrillers of the 1920s and 1930s. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-8185-9.
  15. ^ "The White Dress - a Portrait of Joan Clarkson, 1935 (oil on canvas)". Bridgeman Images. Retrieved 2022-08-17.
  16. ^ "Stage Romance; Actress Asks for Part and Gets a Husband". Sunday Mercury and News. 1928-07-29. p. 7. Retrieved 2022-08-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "Theatrical Romance; Producer Marries Actress in London". Citizen. 1928-08-02. p. 6. Retrieved 2022-08-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Decree Against Actress". Evening Standard. 1939-06-26. p. 13. Retrieved 2022-08-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Decree for State Producer; Wife's Desertion". The Daily Telegraph. 1939-06-27. p. 11. Retrieved 2022-08-17 – via Newspapers.com.